BlackRock, Ark Investments lower fees for planned spot Bitcoin ETF

BlackRock and Ark Investments said on Wednesday they were lowering the fees on their proposed spot bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs).

BlackRock would charge 0.25 per cent, compared with the 0.30 per cent fee set earlier, according to an updated filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday.

It also lowered its introductory offer on the fund to 0.12 per cent fee for the first 12 months or for the first $5 billion in assets, rather than 0.20 per cent.

Ark Investments and 21Shares lowered their fee to 0.21 per cent from 0.25 per cent earlier.

The aspiring ETF managers have kicked off a fee war even before an approval from the US SEC for such investment vehicles.

The SEC will decide later on Wednesday whether to approve an application from asset managers Ark Investments and 21Shares to launch a spot bitcoin ETF. Previously, it had denied all such applications, citing potential for fraud.

More than a dozen bitcoin ETF applications, including from Fidelity and VanEck, are pending with the securities regulator. 

The spot bitcoin ETFs would offer institutional and retail investors exposure to the world's largest cryptocurrency without directly holding it.

Bitcoin has gained more than 70% in recent months on the expectation that the SEC would approve the spot bitcoin ETFs.

On Tuesday, a fake post on the SEC’s X account claimed that the agency has approved the issuance of Bitcoin ETFs.

Following the fake post Bitcoin shot up to a 22-month high around $48,000, but fell after SEC chair Gary Gensler took to his own X account to warn that the market account had been “compromised” and that an “unauthorised tweet” had been posted.

Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that the SEC was wrong to reject an application from Grayscale Investments to convert its existing Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF. After the ruling the agency was forced to reexamine its position.